Lin Yu sinks to his knees as he lands on the rocky ground, feeling thunder-element spiritual energy surge into his Immortal Lord source—Storm Source. His spirit sense sharpens by at least thirty per cent, and his strength increases by fifty per cent. Pain flashes through his body as raw thunder energy clashes with his Nether body; Nether and thunder energies in their pure forms do not harmonise, and the lightning disrupts his internal energy circulation.
He channels the Thunder Armour technique, fusing his Nether energy with the thunder element. The armour forms over his body, and he feels his strength surge another fifty per cent.
"Are you finished? Let's go."
Lin Yu glances up to see Cai Liyun's impatient face. He quickly rises and follows her, moving toward the rocky mountains at the centre, the sky above roiling with purple thunder clouds.
While walking, Lin Yu continues practising the thunder armour technique, combining and bonding individual thunder elemental particles closely together. Even the Nether Spirit continues the thunder armour technique practice in his inner world. With the abundance of thunder spiritual energy, he doesn't have to take a break and recover, but can continue his practice without stopping to recover.
They finally stop at the edge of a lake, with ten lotuses floating and absorbing the thunder energy. They are also not the only pair standing at the edge of the lake. He hears Cai Liyun say, "That bitch is also here." Lin Yu follows her gaze and finds another beautiful woman with snow-white hair, wearing a dark green robe with a badge of the five-elemental tree.
Lin Yu mutters inwardly, Five Elemental Palace. Another super force spanning continents like the Nine Nether Sect, but they call themselves a force of the right way. The woman also stares with the same hatred toward Cai Liyun, waiting like everyone else for the lotuses to bloom.
Cai Liyun says, "We must get at least one Lotus." Lin Yu nods and stares at the closest lotus near him. They wait, one day passes, and more people gather. The second day passes, and even more gather. On the third day, thick purple thunder strikes the ten lotuses, and they bloom, and the lake erupts in chaos.
Lin Yu and Cai Liyun head toward the nearest lotus, attacking those ahead of them, defending from attacks behind, and fighting tooth and nail. They manage to take three lotus petals from the twelve-petal lotus. Cai Liyun says, "Let's go," and they escape with people chasing behind them.
They stop on a hill and turn to see three pairs of men chasing them from three different sects, all stopping at a distance. Cai Liyun says, "You all from a second-rate sect have the guts to chase me."
One of them says, with the badge of a lightning sword on his robe, "This is a secret land. We are all in the same realm now. Why should we be afraid?"
Another, with the badge of a lightning tiger, says, "You should be afraid of us."
The third pair, with a badge of a lightning cloud, adds, "Hand over the lotus petals to us and we will let you go."
Cai Liyun smiles and says, "You guys got a death wish." Neither energy fluctuates within her, forming black fire that surges toward the three pairs of men. One pair defends with lightning sword energy, another roars like a lightning sound, waves of sound stopping the attack, and the third forms dark thunder cloud hands to block it.
Lin Yu erupts, attacking the pair from the Lightning Cloud sect, while Cai Liyun engages the other two pairs. As he fights, he realises his body is stronger than theirs—the Immortal Lord's body combined with the Nether Body technique makes him superior to those who possess only the Immortal Lord's body. Though they fight in pairs, giving them some advantage, Lin Yu releases his Nether Spirit, turning the tide and killing them one by one.
The two corpses fall to the ground as Lin Yu notices Cai Liyun watching calmly; she has already slain the other two pairs. It is only natural—though she suppresses her cultivation to the Immortal Lord realm, she is actually an Immortal Emperor realm cultivator. None of them could hope to match her. Lin Yu takes the space rings of the six people.
Cai Liyun asks, "Why are you taking the junk?"
Lin Yu checks inside the rings with his spirit and finds, in one of them, a jade slip containing the technique—Thunder Cloud Hand. He looks up at Cai Liyun and notices her gaze fixed to their right. Floating in the air is the beautiful woman from the Five Elemental Palace, with a man standing beside her.
Cai Liyun attacks the woman, black fire roaring toward her, while the woman counters with Wood Element Thunder that pierces Cai Liyun's black fire and strikes her. The exchange ends with Cai Liyun losing the confrontation.
Lin Yu asks, "Are you okay?"
She glances at him calmly and says, "Let's go," and he follows as they fly away.
She remains silent throughout the day. They stop when they encounter resources, battling to obtain them—some they secure, others slip through their grasp. Eventually, they reach a cave hidden beneath a river. Inside, they sit opposite each other, and the woman throws a jade slip from her space ring toward him.
Lin Yu reads the technique on the jade slip while Cai Liyun speaks, "These are thunder law–based resources. It would be better if you absorb them, and with the double cultivation technique, you can share your understanding of thunder with me."
The technique Cai Liyun gives him is an advanced double cultivation method, allowing their sources to blend and share their comprehension of the Law. She hands him the space ring containing all the resources they obtained in the secret land and says, "Quickly get familiar with the technique."
Lin Yu begins to comprehend the method with his Nether Spirit in his inner world. A few hours later, he declares, "I am ready." They sit opposite each other, palms pressed together.
Lin Yu suppresses his emotions as his lust starts to run wildly, but this double cultivation technique does not rely on primitive mating to work. His energy enters her body, and hers flows into him, and Lin Yu feels his Nether energy being purified and condensed.
Their sources begin to blend, and Lin Yu starts sending his understanding of thunder to her while taking out the resources from the space ring one by one, consuming and comprehending the Law of thunder within them.
They continue until all the resources are absorbed. When Lin Yu opens his eyes, he sees that around Cai Liyun's body, Nether energy has transformed into thunder.
She gains Lin Yu's understanding of the thunder element, while his Nether energy is further purified and condensed, which would help him progress toward completing the fifth stage of the Nether Body technique.
She says, "You advanced to the Immortal Lord realm with the lowest law source."
Lin Yu's eyes cloud with confusion—he doesn't understand what Cai Liyun means.
She sighs softly. "I forgot, you are from the lower realm."
"After you become an outer disciple of the sect, you must advance your law source to at least a top-rank source. Otherwise, stepping into the Immortal King realm will be impossible for you."
Lin Yu finally understands that the law source he condensed when breaking through to the Immortal Lord realm is of the lowest rank.
Cai Liyun adds, "It would have been better if you had directly condensed a higher-rank law source."
Lin Yu asks, "Will it be difficult now to improve my law source?"
"Yes," Cai Liyun replies calmly. "Your law source is already condensed, and to change it… You must first break it."
Lin Yu understands the danger—breaking the law source means falling out of the Immortal Lord realm, and if he is not careful, he could suffer irreparable damage, never able to return.
They remain in the cave for another hour before leaving to search for more resources. Lin Yu is now certain of Cai Liyun's true goal—the thunder source pool atop the mountain at the centre.
What neither of them realises is that the fate line binding their souls has grown thicker and stronger after their double cultivation. As they continue to fight for resources and share their comprehension of the thunder element through the technique, the thread binds them ever tighter.
Gradually, they even begin to sense each other's emotions.